Editor's web obsessions

Editor's web obsessions

I love checking out Net-a-porter's well-edited selection of designer goodies for a look at the latest trends. An added plus—it's a great way to spot the best buys when hunting for bargains at Zara and H&M!

Right now I am obsessed with swing coats and three-quarter-sleeve cropped jackets from the 1930s, '40s and '50s. I head to eBay, like everyone else, to scour their selection. (My golden rule: Never spend more than $35 on one item.)

And speaking of great style: Clei has the ultimate chic convertible furniture. With clean, modern lines and ingenious design, it's furniture as art.

With all this shopping, I'll have to make room. The experts at Portero will come to your house to pick up your designer clothing, accessories and furniture—then they'll sell it for you on eBay.

—Suze

Don't make fun of me—I'm craving a pair of Birkenstock's like nobody's business after reading an article in The New York Times discussing how they're perennially un-cool. (What can I say? I'm the opposite of trendy.) Hence my frequent visits to the Birkenstock site. Should I go for hippie suede? Eccentric grandmother-style patent leather? Or maybe even both?

Ishopblush, the Web outpost of Baltimore's Blush boutique, just relaunched, replete with a blog. And, most important for accessory junkies, as of July it will be one of the few retail outlets for the genius new handbag line from Joy Gryson, formerly a bag designer for Marc Jacobs.

My friend Gail Rubin, a Houston-based publicist, turned me on to a talented new jewelry designer—Marion Cage. Cage's gorgeous wood-centric jewelry is so compulsively wearable that I'm hankering for the whole collection.

—Ashley Baker

I always check out the medical section of Snopes. Whenever my friends forward the latest health-related urban legends to me, I send them a link to the story behind their "stories."

For reliable health information, I count on MedlinePlus, which pools news and info from government offices and all the big-name medical centers and universities.

Hungry Girl gives tons of yummy food tips—that's where I found out about my favorite muffin in the world, the chocolate Vitamuffin with only 200 calories and 12 grams of fiber. It keeps me full for about four hours!

It's not medical, but AskMen gives me an inside peek into what men are thinking about sex—so then I can turn around and tell you guys.

—Sunny Sea Gold

I always visit PDN Online, the website of Photo District News, a popular photography news source. It's a great resource for discovering young up-and-coming photogs across the globe.

Artcoup also offers plenty of visual inspiration. This site showcases the documentary-style images of the photographer Boogie, whose work offers a poignant glimpse at people and landscapes rarely seen.

I use FreeNYC and Whatsup: NYC to get all the info on the latest art openings in New York City—it's nice to get an offline art fix occasionally!

To stay up to date on news in my hometown (and to keep me from being too City-centric), I check out Todd A, a blog written by a friend and fellow Nashville native.

—Ashley Horne

Dresses are a staple in my wardrobe, and I’ve bookmarked two must-visit spots: Anthropologie for the new line Le Shack by Tracy Feith (think irresistible cotton babydoll dresses in funky mixed madras and Hawaiian prints) and Free People for affordable Bohemian frocks.

Abercrombie & Fitch’s fringed denim Darby shorts are perfect for when I’m working the beach-bum look. The sleek new longer silhouette is much more flattering than cut-offs.

Fashion king Karl Lagerfeld is doing a more affordable, groovy line for those of us who can't prance around in Chanel suits. Check it out at Neiman Marcus. The denim vests, skinny jeans and über-cool T-shirts are enough to make even this Southern girl feel downtown groovy.

—Joyann King

The first thing I do after I wake up is check E! Online for celebrity news. I need to know if someone broke up or was arrested—it could be a story idea. Then I check it at least 25 more times throughout the day.

I also love the celeb blog Pink Is The New Blog. Their photo captions are hysterical—usually exactly what you’re thinking but would never say.

—Julie Stone

Found Magazine collects things like found love letters, doodles and poetry on napkins that people leave in diners or drop on the floor. It’s a wacky little window into other people’s worlds.

I love Flak Magazine for its book and movie reviews, zany comics, photobloggers and general snarkiness (check out the review of blogger-turned-stripper-turned-author Diablo Cody’s new book, Candy Girl).

File Magazine is a great place to lose a few hours surfing cutting-edge photography from far-flung corners of the globe.

Fine Words Butter No Parsnips is packed with funny short-short fiction, art, photography and cartoons. Don’t miss “Pets We’ve Known.” OK, confession time: This is my very own webzine that I run with my brother, but I can tell you in my unbiased opinion that it rocks!

—Abigail Pesta

For good prices on designer fashions, I’m a habitué of Bluefly. The secret? Check every morning for new arrivals!

On days when I’m not swamped routing page proofs, I like to keep up on the news and events in wonderful NYC, and Gothamist is chock-full of great information.

Reading about the shopping escapades of Julie K.L. Dam on her blog, Some Like It Haute, is a much more fiscally responsible way to sate my love of luxury. It gives me ideas for what to save up for. There will be Manolo Blahniks in my future.

When I become desperate to vacation, I visit Luxury Link to remind me of the places I hope to travel to someday.

I’m a firm believer in reading the foreign press, so I frequent BBC News to get an international perspective on current events.

For a more personal take on happenings abroad, I turn to La Coquette, a blog written by an American girl living in Paris about her adventures and travails.

—Mari Gill

Oftentimes, books by European writers are released in England first before they come out in the United States, so I’m a frequent visitor to
Amazon’s British website. Plus, you can only find the books of Jill Mansell (my favorite fluffy, British chick-lit writer) overseas, so I order them there to read on the weekends when I crave brain candy.

When I want another kind of mental vacation, I go to Cats In Sinks. I love it because I have my very own cat in a sink at home. In fact, there's a picture of Titi buried in the archives there (he’s the tan-and-white kitten who’s contorted in a strange pose in a white sink).

My other off-the-job preoccupation is home design and décor; I just moved into a new apartment. Many websites on the topic are too pricey (a $2000 showerhead?) or too impractical, but Design Sponge is a lovely little site with great links to amazing, affordable home furnishings written in the friendliest voice ever. I feel like the blogger is my secret designy friend!

I am a devoted reader of the Publishers Lunch newsletter from
Publishers Marketplace. It helps me catch up on the latest book-industry news about who’s gotten a six-figure deal, what’s been banned from stores and which editors and agents are changing companies, and gives me links to book reviews, author interviews and articles from newspapers and magazines around the nation. It’s a must-read for anyone interested in book publishing, it’s free, and it actually comes in time to read over lunch!

—Daryl Chen

WikiHow is a how-to manual on anything you could ever want to know, from how to crack a Windows password to how to stop a zipper from unzipping.

I’m a Jeopardy junkie—all that useless trivia in my brain has to be good for something! When I need a mental break, Did you know? is a treasure trove of interesting facts and stories.

Even if you’ve lived in jeans since you started wearing OshKosh B’Gosh as a toddler, this summer you’ll be converted to a dress wearer. Go to eDressMe, where they have hundreds of frocks from great designers like Tracy Reese, Nanette Lepore, Rebecca Taylor and Betsey Johnson.

I’ve got a two-year-old and a newborn—who’s got time to shop? But I can indulge my inner fashion junkie at SheFinds, thanks to a well-edited e-newsletter, which highlights the best fashion bargains every day!

—Tiffany Blackstone

I know, I know, good old-fashioned letter writing is on life support in this blog/text/e-mail Age. But sometimes, only a handwritten note will do (think job interview follow-up!). Check out my favorite stationery line, Cheree Berry, for these must-haves by a former designer of Kate Spade’s paper line.

Speaking of swanky paper, why not write a note from Miami—or Madrid? I’m a procrastinator, so I use SideStep, a free online search engine, to cull the rates of all the major travel sites (like Expedia and Travelocity) for the cheapest last-minute fares. Out on a Friday, back on a Sunday? Sign me up.

My other guilty pleasure: Em & Lo. Best friends (and Glamour contributors!) Emma Taylor and Lorelei Sharkey dish on relationships and sex. It’s as good as Sex and the City reruns on TBS.

—Margarita Bertsos

Most days, my morning starts off with a Venti Americano and NPR’s Morning Edition at my desk while checking e-mail. The daily two-hour radio show is broken down into five- or 10-minute reports, making it the perfect precaffeine way to load up on what’s relevant news-wise for the day ahead. (Hey, multitasking.)

Because I’m a junkie for anything shoes-and-bags-related, I check out The Daily for a fully amusing fill of all things fashion.

Ever wonder what your waiter thinks when you send the steak back…three times? Waiter Rant is a blog written by a guy working in a New York City bistro. He dishes on everything from how to order wine without looking like a chump (hint: there’s no reason to smell the cork!) to what it’s like to survive a double shift on Valentine’s Day.

Since I was a serious tomboy growing up (read: Champion sweatsuits were a sartorial go-to, and I was the only girl on the boys’ baseball team in first grade), Deadspin is a daily pitstop. Way more than just box scores, it’s pretty hysterical commentary on anything remotely sports related. Makes me wish a site like this was around in the days of DiMaggio.

—Nina Carbone

I use Kayak when booking airline tickets because it searches several travel websites to find me the best possible fare.

I just moved into a new apartment, and I depend upon West Elm for great furnishing ideas! My next purchase: these seafoam green, hexagon-shaped nesting tables!

As a vegetarian, it’s tough to find food that I can actually eat, even in New York. Menu Pages has menus for hundreds—maybe even thousands!—of local eateries right around my office and home.

—Liz

Whenever my naturally kinky, coily hair gives me trouble, I visit Nappturality. Members post snapshots of their latest hairstyles and trade ideas about caring for locks like mine. Okay, I’m obsessed with my hair. I also visit MotownGirl when I need hair inspiration or a recipe for a new concoction to conditions my tresses.

Summer is fast approaching, and I’ve got a few vacations in the works. Orbitz is a great resource for fellow self-proclaimed travel agents.

Vacations call for new clothes, and what better place to kick off summer shopping than J.Crew? My limbs are extra-long and J.Crew’s tall pants and tops fit me perfectly! Did I mention that they hold exclusive sales for online customers?

Traveling and shopping are financially taxing, so I visit Wachovia to keep track of my purchases. It sounds pretty boring, but after reading so much about the awful spending habits of women my age, I’ve become meticulous about managing my money.

—Felicia

I can’t get enough of Shopbop. It’s still hands-down the best place to find contemporary, (somewhat) affordable clothing. They’ve got so many designers that I always find something to lust after.

Since I recently became engaged, I compulsively visit The Knot these days. It has so many ideas and tips for the clueless bride-to-be—not to mention tons of links to help me find the perfect gown, flowers, and invitations.

Speaking of invitations, I love the gorgeous, personal notecards and stationery at Abby Jean Press. In this age of e-mail overload, I’ve become much more aware of the importance of handwritten letters!

—Samantha

I’ve been haunting Sephora even more than usual lately. It’s a one-stop shop for makeup, skin care, hair goop, fragrance and even teeth whiteners (not having to plow through a gauntlet of overzealous department-store perfume spritzers to get my stuff is beyond nice). And I love that they’ve got cool niche brands like Dr. Brandt, Kimora Lee Simmons and ModelCo as well as staples like Clinique and Yves Saint Laurent.

Whenever I’m in a hair rut, I take a peek at Matrix for inspiration. They’ve got pics of dozens of short, medium and long cuts—along with expert styling instructions.

I rely on Spa Finder for the best last-minute presents: spa gift certificates. Just enter the zip code of the person you’re shopping for. It really is that easy!

—Tram

I think that maybe in my past life I used to be a real estate broker, because in my downtime I obsessively check out the sales listings for houses around the country on Oodle. It never fails to fascinate me to find out what $300,000 will buy you here…and elsewhere. The nifty Zillow (if you’re on a Mac, you’ll have to browse with Firefox) actually offers satellite-view pictures of your neighborhood—not to mention the assessed property values for every house on your street! For leisurely armchair apartment hunting, though, I still favor Craigslist—the handy pics that many owners attach to their ads make it feel like you took a tour of their places during your lunch hour.

To keep on top of stuff happening in the publishing biz, I’ll occasionally visit Mediabistro, which keeps an eye on the comings and goings of practically every editor in the city, and Gawker, the gossipy website of choice for magazine office yentas. I also recently discovered the Wooden Horse Publishing site, which diligently reports the launch of every new magazine in, like, the world! (Ok, I think it’s actually just the U.S. and Canada, but still!)

Even though it’s kind of embarrassing to admit this, my month really wouldn’t be complete without at least one visit to Astrology Zone, which has the most incredibly detailed, long, and more often than not accurate monthly horoscopes. (Their “Matchmaker by Sign” info, by the way, is uncannily accurate as well.) FYI, it’s hard to believe, but the scopes are free!

No blog would be complete without a few plugs in the friends & family department…including one for my very talented hubby, Josh. The undeniably quirky Slathered, which he created a few years ago, is always good for a few laughs. And, when I’m feeling the need for some visual stress relief, I’ll visit his online photo portfolio, which includes panoramic shots of our old ’hood in Brooklyn, plus surprisingly beautiful vistas from our new digs out in, yes, New Jersey. An added bonus: the “Fun Pix” link, which takes me to his most recent pictures on Fotki, including ones of our beautiful four-year-old daughter, Sasha.

—Alix

For inspiration and party ideas, BizBash is the place to go. I’m on it all the time to catch up on industry news about the latest parties, venues and event designers. It’s a must-read for anyone interested in event planning (or just throwing a cool party), and it’s updated daily.

Speaking of daily, getting my dose of Daily Candy and Juli B each morning is essential. These sites help me plot my next vacation or night on the town with my husband. Hip Guide is also a great site for the newest list of restaurant and club openings.

Planning smaller, more personal parties is my guilty pleasure. I recently threw my friend a birthday party and bought some great favors from Plum Party and For Your Party. Just the smallest detail like having personalized quotes on the cocktail napkins created quite a buzz. Needless to say, the event was a hit, and most important, my friend felt very loved!

—Jennifer

I’m determined to have the best-designed 500-square-foot apartment in Manhattan, so I frequent Apartment Therapy for the latest innovations that make small spaces feel big.

Lena Corwin might be my sister-in-law, but she’s also one of the best designers out there. Her genius ties made of vintage fabrics are great, unexpected gifts, and her affordable plates are an inspired way to give your tabletop some pizzazz. And she’s got one of the awesomest blogs on the Web!

Wallpaper has finally replaced boring old paint in the world of home decor, and the best stuff is found on Timorous Beasties—I just ordered the Thistle pattern!

I’m not always willing to make the trip to Brooklyn, so sometimes I venture to The Future Perfect, my favorite home design store in the Williamsburg neighborhood, to check out their newest acquisitions.

—Noah

At Pandora, you create your own radio stations by typing in the name of a band you like. They then put together play lists of similar tunes. Click on the songs you like and dislike to help guide the selections. I have discovered some great new music there, and best of all? It’s free!

Watch out: I’m on a decorating binge. Far and away, my favorite website is Mixed Greens, an online art gallery. Their mission is to make art more accessible and to demystify the process of buying and collecting. They even have a gift certificate program! I also frequent Habitat for design ideas, as I am totally inspired by their aesthetic. I particularly love the Gemma Ward, sixties-style pop art.

More on gift giving… Mxyplyzyk, one of my favorite stores in Manhattan’s West Village, has an online store with unbelievably whimsical goodies. It’s perfect for wedding gifts—when you dare to look beyond the registry! And Hello!Lucky has adorable letterpress cards and custom invitations. I like to order my birthday cards from them in bulk so I’ll never have to run to the store last-minute!

Flavorpill (and Earplug, JC Report, Artkrush and Boldtype) are my resources for offbeat culture, fashion, books, music and art. They list everything from events and shows to gallery openings and happenings around town when you are looking to infuse some extra culture into your week.

And finally, my everyday must-read is Fashion Wire Daily for industry news. They take a very upbeat approach to fashion reporting. I’m addicted!

—Jen

I just moved into a new apartment, so I am completely obsessed with this home/design blog, Apartment Therapy. It even has its own classifieds, where you can scout for art deco dressers or vintage sofas.

I find healthy but tasty recipes and interesting stories about diet and nutrition research at the Eating Well website. The site, like the magazine, has an everything-is-good-for-you-in-moderation attitude—no deprivation necessary.

I love the Feministing blog, which has a smart, sassy take every day on news that affects women.

—Geraldine

Watching the film trailers is the best part of going to the movies (in my humble opinion), so when I can’t make it to the theater, I watch them on the iTunes music store at least once a week. What I’m looking forward to now? Little Miss Sunshine, a noirish comedy starring Steve Carrell and Toni Colette.

And if the comedy clips don’t make me laugh, I visit The Lonely Island. (SNL staffers Akiva Schaffer, Jorma Taccone and Andy Samberg created the site before achieving television fame.) It’s loaded with off-the-wall videos, including an O.C. spoof called “The BU” (as in Malibu).

But what I’m really looking forward to is a new site called Swaptree, which launches this summer. It kind of works like Ebay, except you trade DVDs, books and CDs—all you have to pay for is shipping. (And if you don’t want to spend money to mail it, the site lets you form groups with your coworkers or neighbors so you can make the swap in person!) I’ve been hoarding so many paperbacks, but instead of throwing them out, I can get as many George Clooney movies as my heart desires.

—Lauren

I always start the day with the paper version of The New York Times, but the online version brings everything to life. Authors read from their latest books. The architecture critique walks you through the newest spaces on the planet. The food critic demonstrates how to prepare his recipes—while cooking at his very own stove! Nicholas Kristof is video blogging from Darfur. They’ve expanded on “All the News That’s Fit to Print” and added blogs, audio slide shows and much more photography.

Three Lives & Company is a neighborhood bookstore in New York’s West Village. It is, hands down, the place I love to go to most in this world. Its website defines its identity, its mission and its plans for readings by its favorite authors. Recently David Mitchell had a reading and packed the house like an East Village club waiting for The Strokes to arrive. And just the other day I was in and Joan Didion had stopped by and signed copies of her new book, The Year of Magical Thinking. Doesn’t get better than that.

I’ve discovered a new voice this week. She calls herself the Book Nerd and has a blog. Her passion is books. She is a bookseller and plans to open her own bookstore in Brooklyn someday. Her enthusiasm for writers, publishers, agents, bookstores, books and the people who read them is contagious. But what intrigues me the most is how she weaves her passion so brilliantly into the life she lives. Her work is her play. Incidentally, she cameos as a bookseller at Three Lives.

And when it’s all said and done, when you’ve got that book in your hand, the only place to go is Jack’s Stir Brew coffee shop. It’s a place the size of station wagon. Frustrating, I know, if you don’t live in New York City, but stay with me on this one. Go to Jack’s site, Jack’s Stir Brew, and what you’ll see is what can happen when the simplest of ideas is carried out with vision. A coffee shop becomes a laboratory of creativity. Tuesday nights is music night and you’ll find a musician sitting in the storefront window playing to a packed house. Thursday nights turns into a mini Ziegfeld Theater. From day one, Jack understood the potential that could come from a great cup of coffee and good people coming together for old-fashioned conversation and a place to be.

—Troy

I get on a lot of airplanes to check out what’s cooking in the home design world, and most of the best stuff—whether its from a cool ceramicist from Reykjavik or a lighting genius in London—can be purchased on the Web!

Sites with great, funky European home stuff include Greener Grass Design (their little ceramic bird lights make any room feel like an enchanted garden), Suck UK (for hip and a-little-bit-twisted products like a gun-shaped porcelain bud vase) and the oracle of all things on the cutting edge of design, Moss.

I’m obsessed with rustic, worn wood furniture and objects made out of found materials—a great resource for that sort of thing is Treehugger.

And while everyone else in the magazine biz is checking out the latest posting from Gawker, I’m knee deep in the latest gossip on Apartment Therapy, where New Yorkers pitch in to help find the best collapsible side table or debate whether or not the Chelsea flea market is still the best resource for vintage salt & pepper shakers. So much more exciting than a Justin Timberlake sighting!

—Joanna

I’ve been surfing since I was 10 years old, so it’s no small wonder that I check out the streaming video feeds at Surfline to remind me where I would be if I weren’t sitting in my Times Square office! I love seeing images of beaches and their surfs around the world, including the local breaks here in the NYC area. There’s always a swell rolling in somewhere, so I can actually watch people surf live, and sometimes even the local wildlife likes to peek into the camera. The site also provides accurate local surf forecasts and has new videos, news, and links every day.

—Geoff

I have two super-adorable kids, Max, three, and Sabrina, one, so I take about a bazillion photos with my digital camera, download them to Kodakgallery and order prints. I’ve also made photo calendars there—a great gift because, as you know, my kids are adorable. At night, after they’re asleep, I often log on to Sirius (my husband, Dave, has a subscription), play some jazz and cruise the Web.

I’m fascinated by real-estate anything, so I like to visit domania, where you can check house listings or type in a street address and find out how much someone’s house cost. Nosy, yeah, but you can bet my neighbors looked us up to find out what we paid! Sometimes I’ll search ehow for a home fix-it solution; it’s the first place I turned to when my mother-in-law (not her real name) locked us out of the bathroom the other day.

Lately, I’ve been spending time in the Viral Videos area on AOL. They are mesmerizing, down to the footage of some weatherman who likes to act out current climate conditions! On weekends, I’ll hit moviefone for film times; the site has a roundup of reviews, so you get a pretty quick sense of whether a movie is a Do or a Don’t. Speaking of which, I try to contain my online clothes-shopping habits, but it’s hard to resist the lures of all the shoe possibilities at zappos (that’s “shoes” in Spanish). I also love ordering books and CDs from Overstock. They have the best deals—a good thing since I get tired of reading the same old stories to my kids. Did I mention they’re adorable?

—Ellen

Forget Hallmark, for those extra special occasions I go to dsixdesign.com for unique note cards, including adorable i.o.u’s that promise the ultimate gift: your time. Stationery and gift wrap come in awesome retro patterns that are color coordinated to help you create the perfect package.

I haven’t tango’d in months but I still love to visit dancetango.com for a complete list of local milongas, concerts and classes. It also has links to other tango sites and info on worldwide events (so you’ll know where to go when you visit Buenos Aires!)

To keep politically up-to-date, I check out ontheissues.org, a website that provides non-partisan information about where senators, supreme court justices, presidents and presidential candidates stand on issues from abortion to the environment to WMD.

Since buying my apartment, I’ve been obsessed with dwr.com, the website for Design Within Reach. Where else can you find furniture by the likes of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Frank Gehry at (relatively) reasonable prices?